Behind The Door of Mannat [ON HOLD]

Sweet Things Only (2) - END

- Surprise at the End -

It felt like a century when I boarded a car again. My head started feeling dizzy from seeing nothing. I slept a lot during the flight. The longest sleep I ever had, I think. At this point, I do not know where I am or where we are heading to. I have not heard Aryan and Kajol's voices since we got into this car. Just the twins trying to keep me entertained during the long safar.

"Papa, do you remember what cartoon you used to watch when you were a kid?" Azran asked me while still holding my hand. I smiled at it.

"No, I did not watch cartoons. I can't."

"Ew, that is so boring!" He exclaimed.

"But cartoons have existed since the 1900s. Was there no TV around you so you could watch them?" Azira took her turn to ask. I shook my head.

"I did not have a TV. But I have a radio. Dadaji loves to listen to news from the radio. I joined him sometimes."

My memory immediately flew back to the time when I was a little kid. Every 5 PM, as I got back from playing cricket with my friends, Abba was already sitting on his chair. With a glass of black coffee and a radio on the table, he took me in his lap and we listened to the news together. I did not understand a single word but I enjoyed the moment. I don't know why. I asked him if I wanted to know and he explained it to me in a very simple language so a kid could understand.

"Dada must be a fun person to spend time with." Azira said. I just nodded and smiled.

"But wasn't that so boring, Papa? Kids are supposed to play and have fun, na? How could you survive those days?"

My smile grew wider as I heard the question. I rubbed their little hands softly. "Do you know how Nemo survives the ocean without being eaten by the Sharks?"

"He keeps swimming." They answered together. I nodded.

"That's how I survived too. I keep swimming. I keep living."

A long silence enveloped us after that. I know these kids will find their own way to understand what I am saying. They are smart, very smart in fact. I believe they inherited my intelligence and their mother's simplicity in way of thinking. I have witnessed it on many occasions and I have no doubt about it. I know they understand it.

"Your childhood is quite different from Mama." Said Azran.

"That's not a matter now." I replied with a smile on my lips.

Now I feel the car has stopped. The engine was off and someone opened the door. I could hear the twins clapping excitedly.

"Papa, we're here. Your surprise is waiting inside. Let's get out and discover it yourself." Said Azira. Someone helped me to get out of the car after the kids. They held my hands again and led my steps. Oh, how fast the night changes. Four years ago it was me who held their hands and helped them to walk. Now it is them who hold my hands and help me to walk. How crazy the time flies.

"Are we here?" I asked after they stopped walking. My nostrils could smell the familiar home-cooking paratha, biryani, and tandoori chicken. Damn, they made my stomach growl.

"Oh, here he is the big boy." I could hear Kajol's voice coming from the other side. Her smell immediately overwhelmed my mind. Now I feel she is standing right behind me.

"Ready for the surprise, Papa?"

I nodded. My heart beats rapidly as the blindfold was taken away from my eyes. I blinked a few times to adjust my sight that had started blurry. I closed my eyes and opened it after a while. Everything is blue and blurry in my sight. I closed them and tried to open them once again. This time I got a clearer sight. By the time my eyes landed on the "surprise" they meant, I almost had a heart attack.